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A Grimsby atheist looking to strike down a school board religious materials policy took his fight to human rights court Tuesday.

The Ontario Human Rights Tribunal in St. Catharines kicked off hearings for Rene Chouinard who is seeking to quash the District School Board of Niagara policy, which allows distributions under strict conditions.

The case pins on a 2009 incident where Chouinard refused to sign a consent form allowing his elementary school daughter to receive a Gideons International Bible at her school.

“This is not about the rights of Christians, except to establish that they do not supersede others’ rights,” said Chouinard, father to three children. “It’s not about teaching of religion like world religion courses, which we strongly support.

“The Gideon material is not to teach reading, or for literature reasons, and it’s not about following traditions as traditions change with the times.”

At the hearing Chouinard told tribunal associate chair David Wright there had been discrimination under the Ontario Human Rights Act on the basis of creed, with no material from non-Christian religions actually distributed in board schools.

He seeks an order that the board’s policy be struck down and the board be told it can’t allow third-party distribution of religious materials in the schools.

Other examples might be the handing out of a Hindu text or Koran.

Chouinard and wife Anna earlier unsuccessfully tried to have the atheist publication Just Pretend: A Free Thought Book for Children distributed to Grade 5 students under similar circumstances to Gideon.

The St. Catharines tribunal heard Nelles School Council ultimately decided not to allow it, or the Gideon bible for distribution.

Following the Nelles incident, a revised Feb. 2010 board policy states, in part, that no student shall receive a publication without a signed parent’s permission slip, that any religious publication distribution should not be during instructional time, and that attendance for it is optional.

It further states no religious instruction or indoctrination is allowed, and the distribution will be supervised.

After this policy, DSBN education director Warren Hoshizaki — the first in a chain to approve religious materials distribution — was also asked to consider the atheist publication suggested by Chouinard.

Based on board legal advice and the Ontario Multifaith Council’s manual, the book did not meet the criteria as a religious publication.

Hoshizaki also said, to his knowledge there has not been a Gideons distribution, or any other complaint since the revised board policy.

He was later reminded that there was one approved request for a Gideons distribution at Parliament Oak School in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

At the hearing lawyer Stuart Svonkin representing the Canadian Civil Liberties Association argued the provincial human rights code — as interpreted by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms — makes it clear the board policy is discriminatory.

People have the right to be free from religious “coercion and indoctrination” said Svonkin, representing the Association, invited by the tribunal as an intervenor.

He said school children are particularly vulnerable to religious coercion and when forced to reveal their religious orientation, could be stigmatized as believers or non-believers.

School board lawyer Ranjan Agarwal argued the board policy is in compliance with the provincial Education Act and Human Rights Code, and its mission of promoting values includes permitting access to religious materials.

As for the rejection of the atheist publication, he argued atheism is not a religion and not protected as a creed under the code.

In cross-examination, Hoshizaki also explained the rationale for the policy, ultimately approved by trustees.

He was asked how the distribution of religious materials fits into the community.

“The policy we’re trying to reflect is inclusiveness,” the education director said. “It (lets) the students and their families have access to materials they may not have access to (otherwise).”

“It’s access, equity … and a reflection of the community.”

The Tribunal continues Wednesday.

don.fraser@sunmedia.ca

Twitter @don_standard

Factbox

Gideons International in Canada, which describes itself as a non-denominational Christian organization, has been distributing Bibles to students in Canadian public schools since 1936.

The Gideons print Bibles and New Testaments in more than 90 languages.